The One Without- Luke 21: 1-4 Written for the Transgender Day of Remembrance Service- 2013- with love... Jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on." ************************************************************************************** This poor widow! We have heard this story so many times, especially in Christian circles, and especially during stewardship campaigns. And the interpretation is seemingly simple- we are taught that we are like the rich people giving out of our abundance- our leftovers- and we are supposed to be more like the widow- who gave everything she has. We love her- kind of... except she always reminds us how we could give more... (at my church pledge cards went out this week.) But frankly she's a tough act to follow... and Jesus makes her into a role model by pointing her out to everyone...

But today we aren't talking about Stewardship- this is the Transgender Day of Remembrance Service. A day we mourn those who lost their lives for just living out who God made them to be. So why talk about the poor widow?What you may not know is that the word 'widow' in Greek means, "one without." So while we usually see this widow as a tiny little old woman, without a husband, what I would like us to envision today is a person who is simply "without"... perhaps without a home, maybe one without food, or children, or health care. The widow is one without status in the community, one without care from the community, she is one without protection, one without community understanding, without definition, – without…

In the Bible, widows represent the most vulnerable of society so today, see the "one without" in our story as every woman, every child, and every man who has ever been taken advantage of, deprived of equal rights, harassed, beaten, killed, and told they were anything less than a child of God[i] for being who they are... she is certainly representative of the transgender community... -- without...

Yet, this "one without went to the temple that day- amidst the one's "within"... amongst the ones who had everything, money, and status and community acceptance; the ones who always get to make the decisions about who is allowed in and who is kept out... who is acceptable and who isn't... about who was clean or unclean, who should be embraced and who should be punished...And knowing what the world thought of her and the community reinforced for her she went to temple anyway, and she walked up the aisle and she tossed her two coins into the coffer with the best of them- she gave from without- and put in all she had, and I can't help but wonder how she came to have the courage and fortitude and downright balls (or not) to do that- and why she would even want to?

Why throw in all she has, to be a part of the community that hardly acknowledges her existence-or others like her... past the simple exclusion, past the snide comments, and outright derogatory slurs that came her way, for the "one without", simply stepping outside her door could be a dangerous thing... so why risk it?

Because despite what the world told her she was, she knew who she was, and she knew her value... despite what the world had told her she was worth- despite what she did not have- she recognized what she did have. She was not less than, she was not "one without"- she knew her value rested in being a child of God- and her tiny coins ringing in the coffer, spoke that loud and clear.... "I'm HERE!" they rang- "I'm here, and others like me are here, and we are just as much a part of this community as those within... and we will be heard." "I'm here! And I'm throwing in everything I have to make this community accessible to everyone- I'm throwing in everything I have so that acceptance isn't a gift for just a few- but for everyone- even me." "I'm here! And I defy you to try to put me back into the shadows where I can't be seen or heard or ignored- because maybe what all of you can't see or don't want to see... yet, is that we- all of us- were put here together. You may not like me, or understand me, or want to accept me, but I'm going to love you anyway- with everything I have to live on... I'm here..."

And this small act of defiance toward a broken and corrupt system got the attention of Jesus- "She gets it'" he says... and the people in the temple that day- the ones who were "within" probably had mixed feelings about it, and about her and about what Jesus said... and I imagine some became angry and some became offended, and some... maybe a few... became allies.

And that's what I'm here to tell you today... I am a straight white female... I can't begin to imagine the pain and stress that the transgender community faces every day. The amount of loss you endure, the risks you take, the friends you grieve... all to simply live out who you are. And I'm not talking about which gender you identify with- although that is certainly part of it. I mean living out who you are as a child of God- that the value the world may give you is not how God sees you. And if you don't know how God sees you, if no one has told you... let me be the first... you are perfect, and beautiful, and holy, and cherished. And I don't care what faith you are, or if you even have a faith, the same God/Creator/Sustainer/Redeemer loves us all- just the way we are!

We come together today to remember and memorialize those in the trans community who have lost their lives for living out who they were... the richness of this community is amazing... but as we leave from this place. (And I say we, meaning not just the transgender community but your allies...WE... while we, your allies, cannot put ourselves wholly into your shoes, we can walk next to you...)

As we leave from this place, we can honor their memory by following the example of the one without... by going to the "temple" anyway... by throwing in all we have because we see something the ones "within" don't yet see... by letting our copper coins ring out in defiance of a broken and corrupt and exclusive system.... saying, "We're here! You may not like us, or understand us, or want to accept us, but we're going to love you anyway- with everything we have to live on..."[i]http://www.peacechurch.de/The_Widows_Mite.pdf